Outdoor activities with a great view, beautiful gardens, spinning classes, bingo, Mahjong, a relaxing two-story living room with a beautiful fireplace, chef-prepared meals, three private dinning rooms — all the amenities you’d find at a 5-star resort with one exception. Elan Gardens is a first-rate assisted living facility in Clarks Summit.
Elan Gardens has been voted Best Senior/Assisted Living Center in the Best of the Abingtons Readers’ Contest, sponsored by the Abington Journal, a publication of the Times Leader Media Group.
Elan Gardens is the sister facility to The Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania that offers rehabilitation, skilled nursing and enhanced dementia care that opened its doors in November 1996.
“We are a non-profit agency,” said Ann Miles, director of Elan Gardens. “We are an off-shoot of The Jewish Home. We are a Jewish facility; however, we have people here of all different faiths. We’re basically nondenominational. Everyone is welcome from every faith.”
Elan Gardens offers private apartment suites – 57 total resident rooms — and is licensed for up to 75 residents.
In addition to allowing residents to take advantage of the beautiful grounds, Elan Gardens provides three kosher meals per day, a nurse on the premises around the clock, weekly housekeeping, linen and personal laundry service, scheduled transportation and heat and air conditioning in every apartment.
“We also offer our spin class, a glee club that meets twice a week, daily exercise class, weekly entertainment, bingo weekly and, in the evening, board games and we even have a group that meets for bridge,” Miles said.
Holidays are celebrated for all denominations and spiritual needs, according to Miles.
“We try to celebrate a variety of holidays and we just celebrated Passover and we also had a reception for Easter,” Miles added.
Elan Gardens is considered an assisted living facility but is licensed as a personal care home.
“We offer quite a bit of care actually,” Miles said. “We help them in the morning, get them going for the day and, if someone needs assistance with medications, it’s our nurses that provide that assistance.”
The facility offers a compliment of residence associates who meet the personal care needs of the residents, including showering and dressing.
“We have nurses in the building which is unusual for this level of care,” Miles said. “We are licensed as a personal care facility.”
Elan Gardens offers a small memory care program for people with advancing dementia where the facility focuses on activities designed around individual strengths and activities.
Dementia residents have around-the-clock supervision and the building is equipped with the Wanderguard system at the exit doors and stairwells to ensure safety.
There are currently six floor plans to choose from that feature a bedroom, living room, kitchenette, ample closet space, bathroom and other amenities. For further information, log onto www.elangardens.org call 570-585-4400 or visit the facility at 465 Venard Road, Clarks Summit.
